Photo By Sgt. Mark VanGerpen | All 120 campers of the South Dakota Military Youth Camp, Star Search!, perform their...... read more read more
RAPID CITY, S.D. - One hundred twenty military youth and 12 junior counselors from across South Dakota came together for the 2014 South Dakota National Guard Military Youth Camp, July 21-25, at Storm Mountain Retreat Center near Rapid City.
Targeted specifically toward youth ages 9-11 who come from military families, the camp offered kids a chance to learn military values and leadership, while connecting with others like themselves.
“This week is for kids from military families to be able to get together and relate with one another, and almost use each other as an outlet when something’s going on in their life that other people can’t really relate with,” said Caitlin Oster, 18, one of the camp’s junior counselors from Rapid City. “They get to have a lot of fun this week and maybe get their mind off something that’s going on at home, or just hang out with other kids that are like them.”
The camp’s theme was Star Search!, so campers spent a lot of time learning about space, stars and the constellations at the secluded campground.
They also learned the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.
On top of that, they experienced leadership challenges and nature hikes, visited the Veteran’s Home in Hot Springs, swam at Evan’s Plunge and sang military cadences on stage at the Mount Rushmore lighting ceremony.
Zack Torrez, 11, of Spearfish, is a first-year camper who said the camp’s packed schedule kept him busy, but in a good way.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “We do a bunch of fun stuff, like our cadences and our youth camp song. They make you work a little. Not as bad as the military, though.”
When asked what they had learned at camp, Torrez enthusiastically launched into his favorite cadence “Down by the River” while Levi Langloss, 10, a second-year camper from Crooks, S.D., sang the responses.
The two campers then got into in a spirited debate over which slides at Evan’s Plunge were the most exciting.
Overall, the camp offers a host of opportunities that some of the campers find hard to come by. Sadie Schmitt, 11, a third-year camper from Dell Rapids, S.D., appreciated the camp’s wide variety of events because they were the kind of things she doesn’t get to do very often.
“Since I live five-and-a-half hours away, I don’t get to come up here every day and go to Evan’s Plunge or Mount Rushmore or anything, so it’s nice to get to do that kind of stuff,” she said.
Schmitt was also privileged enough to sleep in the big cabin, which Torrez said was much nicer than his.
“It’s kind of unfair for the girls, because the girls have these big luxury houses, and the men are down in small cabins,” he said. “It’s like, men need some respect here, too. Come on.”
At the end of the day, though, the campers were happy about what they’d been able to do, and all said they were going to miss the people they’d met there.
“You get to meet a lot of new people,” Oster said. “Being surrounded by all the people who are like me, who go through the same things that I do, and can talk about the same things that I can ... you’re able to relate to each other in a different way than you do with your friends at school.”
The next camp, Explore!, is set for Aug. 11-15 and is designed for military youth in the 12-14 age group. The campers will be able to pursue one of four military tracks (aviation, law enforcement, survival skills and medical) while also learning about Army values and leadership qualities.
South Dakota Military Youth Leadership Camps are conducted in partnership with the South Dakota National Guard Child and Youth Program and Operation Military Kids, a Department of Defense grant-funded program.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2014 11:33 |
| Story ID: | 142285 |
| Location: | RAPID CITY, SD, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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